Deep thinkers reveal that they, too, can change their minds

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It takes a lot to admit that you have changed your mind about something but dozens of leading scientists, scholars and intellectuals have done just that for a New York-based website that describes itself as an influential on-line salon for free thinkers.

This year's annual question posed by www.edge.org asks visitors to the site to submit a short explanation to address the issue of what you have changed your mind about and why? Previous questions on the site have been along the lines of, what is your most dangerous idea? And, what are you optimistic about? "When thinking changes your mind, that's philosophy. When God changes your mind, that's faith. When facts change your mind, that's science. And science is what's on the minds of the world-class scientists and thinkers on Edge," said John Brockman, the New York literary agent behind the website.

Steven Pinker, the Harvard psychologist and language expert, said he has changed his mind about whether humans are still evolving. He used to believe people have so isolated themselves from natural selection that evolution had stopped, but now he is not so sure.

"I've had to question the overall assumption that human evolution pretty much stopped at the time of the agricultural revolution," Professor Pinker said. New studies suggest that thousands of genes have been subjected to strong natural selection over the past several thousand years, which means evolution is far from over for man."

David Buss of the University of Texas, an evolutionary psychologist, has changed his mind about the complexity of female sexuality. He now believes women are far more complex and devious in their sexual strategies than he had imagined. "Researchers discovered 28 tactics women use to derogate sexual competitors, from pointing out that her rival's thighs are heavy to telling others that the rival has a sexually transmitted disease," Dr Buss said. "Women's sexual strategies include at least 19 tactics of mate retention, ranging from vigilance to violence and 29 tactics of ridding themselves of unwanted mates, including having sex as a way to say goodbye," he said.

Helena Cronin, a philosopher at the London School of Economics, turns her attention to why men appear far more successful than women, by persistently walking off with the top positions and prizes in life from being heads of state to winning Nobels.

Dr Cronin used to think it was down to sex differences in innate talents, tastes and temperament. But now she believes it has also something to do with the fact that women cluster around a statistical average, whereas men are more likely to be represented at the extreme ends of the normal spectrum both at the top and the bottom.

Some replies to the Edge question ponder the perennial problem of God. Professor Patrick Bateson of Cambridge University has changed his mind on what to call himself after meeting a virulent creationist. He is no longer an agnostic but an atheist. Meanwhile the actor and writer Alan Alda said that he has changed his mind about God twice.